Drop Dead Forever
by Justimagine935
Summary: Lizzie has fallen back into her old life of misery and misfortune, but what will happen when her favourite friend comes back to play? My first Drop Dead Fred Fanfic. Rated M for future chapters.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello! Welcome to my first ever Drop Dead Fred fanfic :) hope you enjoy it!**

please read and review.

x

Elizabeth often wondered whether Fred would ever come back to her, he had been gone for three years, and she still missed him like it was the first day. Things had picked up for a while after that, she had been given her old job back - after a considerable amount of pleading - and was back on her feet. Though she knew that something was missing. She had begun seeing Mickey a few months after Fred left, but her life wasn't quite as adventurous and enjoyable as when he was with her, even if she had saved her furniture and dignity from more trashing.

"I'm off to work, have a great day off" Mickey's voice called through from the hallway of her flat. He had been staying over a couple of nights a week for as long as she could recall. First as a friend, then as something more.

"Okay. Bye" she called back, sighing as she heard the door click behind him. Was she honestly happy? She hardly knew. They had been seeing each other for quite a long time, but she still didn't feel comfortable with him, regardless of the continuous pleading for her to move in with him and Natalie. Firstly because for the first year or so, she knew Fred had been Natalie's knew best friend and she couldn't bear to be near him and not be able to see him. This had only been a brief friendship as soon after he arrived, a small family moved in across the street and they made friends rapidly. This had been a massive relief, but still not big enough to make her move in. She had thought after he had dissapeared completely, she could move on with Mickey, after all he was a nice guy.

"I don't even think I like nice guys" She heard herself saying before she could stop. Pulling herself out of bed, she jogged to the kitchen to start some breakfast, pouring herself a large cup of coffee to clear her head.

"you've GOT to stop thinking about Fred" She told herself, gulping down her coffee. She had been telling herself this for months now, and yet still he kept creeping back into her thoughts and she was sure Mickey was going to catch on. She had always been good at hiding the truth... first from her parents, then Mickey and now herself. She had been vulnerable after Fred left and admittedly sought comfort in the arms of the young father, but when that feeling never left, she had grown tired of his company, reducing their relationship down to pure convenience and habit.

She remembered the first night they had spent together. robotic and passionless. That was how she would describe it. On her part there were no feelings involved, no lust or pleasure, she knew she was doing it out of expectation, but she convinced herself she wanted to anyway.

"Dammit, Lizzie" she cursed herself again, forcing herself to look in the mirror for a good telling off. "Well, what are you going to do then? Tell him you can't do this anymore because you love an imaginary person... that is no longer here" She laughed out loud, to her surprise. It was even ridiculous to her! Of course she couldn't do that. This was the only man in years who actually liked her for who she was, and he was a kind guy... a nice guy.

"No! That won't do!" she told herself and pulled her face into a large grin. "we're going to get dressed and surprise him with lunch. Make it up to him. and one more thing" She told herself.

"NO MORE FRED" she nodded and rushed into her bedroom.

-

She had decided that today was the day she would make her move with Mickey. Maybe they would go out to lunch, maybe they would have a date that evening, grab a movie or see a show. But if he asked her once more to move in.. she would say yes.

she put her lipstick on in her rear-view mirror and smiled at herself. She was proud of her decision and had chosen a sweet summer dress to start the day off with a bang.

"Morning, can I help you?" A tall blonde asked from behind the welcome desk. Lizzie's eye flashed to her badge 'Roseanna'.

"Yes please, Roseanna. Could I please see Mr Bunce?" she replied happily, beaming at the pretty blonde woman who looked no older than 24. She almost reminded her of annabella, but at least she appeared more friendly.

"Of course. Mickey will be out in a moment." The woman smiled, pausing to type something into her computer before smiling and offering her a seat in the waiting room.

Mickey? Elizabeth thought. Does he tell all of his staff to call him that or just her? Lizzie seated herself in one of the comfy leather chairs and surveyed his office. He was highly successful in his work - although she still hadn't bothered to ask what that was. She looked over to the closed office door, 'M. Bunce' she read to herself. 'Elizabeth Bunce' she thought to herself... sounds... ok.

"Morning Rosie. Who's next?"Mickey asked, sauntering over to the desk and leaning across to look in her diary. She giggled and pulled the diary to her chest, swatting his hand away.

"A miss Cronin" Roseanna smiled, motioning to the now gobsmacked Lizzie in the waiting room. Mickey smiled nervously and approached her, offering her his hand and leading her to his office. Lizzie could barely take her eyes of Roseanna as she was pulled into the glass panelled office and settled into one of the leathery chairs.

"To what do I owe the pleasure?" he smiled, taking a seat next to her.

Lizzie looked to him and back to Roseanna, asking him the question eating away at her without words.

"oh, that's just my secretary. We're great friends in and out of work" he explained, trying to wipe away the look of betrayal on Lizzie's face with a wave of his hand.

"really?" she asked, her eyebrow raised in unmistakable suspicion. She was not being lied to again, not after Charles. He had made a fool of her for months, sleeping with Annabella on their couch... in their apartment... right under her nose. "I'm not stupid, Mickey" She glared daggers.

"you're right, I'm sorry." he sighed, pushing a hand through his hair before reaching out to take her hand in his. "Yes. me and Roseanna are an item. I didn't mean for it to happen, but we've been together on and off for what? Three years? and still we go nowhere. It's just, you're so distant and to be honest I'm tired of chasing thin air. It's become clear to me, that your mind is elsewhere." Mickey finished with a sigh loud enough to silence a room as Lizzie's jaw dropped to the floor. It was just her luck. But he was right, she had been distant and unattainable, she avoided him as much as she could. How could she possibly blame him for looking elsewhere? She would.

But what could she possibly reply to that? she couldn't. Instead she simply patted his hand, smiled half heartedly and left the office, breaking into a run as soon as she got out of the building. She wrestled the door of her car open and jumped inside, slamming her fists on the wheel in anger.

"DAMN IT" She yelled, scaring a few pigeons loitering outside her door. looking up she caught her reflection in the rear view mirror and grimaced, pushing the mirror to the side. She recalled how excited she had been at her new beginning, she had put this STUPID dress on, she hated the colour pink anyway! and drove here ready to be adored by Mickey. "stupid girl" she told herself, pushing the keys into the ignition and bringing the car to life, pulling out of the building parking lot.

How could she have been so stupid? To think she could just walk in and be forgiven? have him drop to her knees and shower her with love? of course not! She didn't deserve it, she thought. She could feel the tears welling in her eyes as she made her way back to her empty apartment. She wasn't sure she would be able to face the night alone, but she would have to try. it was her fault she was this way. If she hadn't of thought of Fred every minute of every day, maybe this would have worked.

"Home sweet home" she sighed, grabbing her purse from the car and mounting the stairs to her apartment. She had barely reached the door when she heard a large crash coming from within. frowning she pushed her ear to the door and listened. Another crash, a thud and a bang. cautiously she reached for the door handle and pushed gently, poking her head around the corner. Nothing.

The sun beamed in through the open drapes and illuminated the apartment. she had taken three steps into the apartment before she was hit full force in the face with a cushion.

"SNOT FACE!" The orange haired lunatic yelled. 


	2. Chapter 2

chapter 2

**Here is chapter 2! Just thought I'd mention, I'm finding a little difficult to come up with a way of making Fred real - I'm sure you've all had this little issue, but I think I've managed it and hopefully it will all slip into place later! Anyway, just want to say a quick thank you to all who have reviewed, subscribed and favourited, it's so nice of you and keeps me going! Also thanks to Forgelove for all support :)**

Read and Review, pretty please. and I always forget to write this sooooo I don't own anything, but damn I wish I did!

*

Chapter 2

Lizzie lay still on her carpet, the sounds of crashing and thumps echoing around her as the coarse fabric of the cushion lay rough against her skin.

"SNOT FACE!" Fred repeated, dancing around the now cushion covered woman on the floor.

She had squeezed her eyes shut at the sound of his voice and pinched herself. _What the hell is going on? _Tugging one of the cushions she took a peek of her imaginary friend. He had evidently grown bored of waiting for her to react and was now pulling the drawers of her kitchen counters open and pouring the contents on the floor. Lizzie stared in shock as he rummaged around until he ducked to look in a lower cupboard. Slowly she pulled herself to her feet and looked around her trashed apartment, her curtains torn from their poles, her books and magazines strewn across the freshly vacuumed carpet and a rather impressive mudpie stood proudly on her leather couch.

"great" she sighed to herself, before taking a few steps towards the kitchen counter. The noise was beginning to calm as she heard the soft clang of the disturbed pots and pans in her cupboard. Taking a deep breath she prepared herself to see Fred destroying more of her utilities, but as she rounded the corner she found the kitchen completely empty. "Fred?" She heard herself ask, cursing how stupid it sounded. She stared at the tiled floor where she was sure Fred had been lurking, the stone still warm from where his body had lay.

"Fred?" she repeated, leaning into one of the opened cupboard to inspect the mess.

"Yeah?" She heard a voice call from behind her, sending her jumping into the air, smashing her head against the stone counter above her.

"SHIT" She cried, holding her thumping head in her hand as she turned to find Fred, leaning casually against her fridge, a smirk playing on his lips.

"oo that had to hurt" he laughed, offering her a hand with his best Fred-like grin.

"what the hell are you doing here?" she asked, grasping the counter and slowly pulling herself to her feet, thinking better of taking Fred's hand. She had only been thinking of this moment last night, thinking of seeing his face again or of holding him in her arms. And there he was, stood against her fridge, playing with the magnets and sticking the post-it notes to his face. "I thought you couldn't come back?" she asked softly, remembering their last encounter with blushing cheeks.

Fred stared at her for a moment, a look of trepidation washed across his face, causing a post-it note to gently fall to the floor. "Fred?" she repeated, taking a step forward to look at him. She had barely noticed it before, but he looked different. His hair was slowly losing its firey colour, his skin was turning paler and the lights were dimming in his eyes. _What's happened to you?_ she thought, staring at what appeared to be a shell of her imaginary friend.

Fred had noticed Lizzie's stares and lept into action, replacing his frown with a lopsided grin and putting his hands on his hips. "I LIED" he shouted, pushing past her to hop across the breakfast bar and crash into the sofa at the other side. "bugger" she heard him curse, as she instantly forgot about her worries and smiled for the first time in ... well, three years.

"so you're here to stay?" she beamed, rushing round to where Fred lay, cradling one of his knees. He smiled at her and stuck his finger into his nose before smearing the contents on her cheek.

"Yep" he lied.

_

It was 3am in the morning and Fred sat by Lizzie's bed, he had stood by her through her inevitable row with Mickey Fartpants and cheered her up through the sobs of the aftermath. She looked so beautiful while she slept, her cropped her splayed around her and her small frame curled into a ball in her duvet. His heart had leapt as he saw a smile tug at her rosy lips as she murmured in her sleep, mouthing random words. He was sure he had heard his name somewhere in amongst her mumbles, but he had not been sure.

"What have you done?" He whispered to himself, careful not to wake Lizzie. pulling himself from her bedside he stared at himself hard in the mirror, the past three years had been torture. Firstly he had stayed with Natalie until she grew tired of him and found another playmate and then he was sent to another child who bored of him just as quickly. What had happened to him? in the IF's union, he was the top employee! kids never got tired of Drop Dead Fred. But almost as soon as he had left Lizzie, his world changed, the very foundations of his being shifted and he wasn't sure if he liked it all that much.

It was this time of night, when nobody was awake, that all the IFs of the world would have their conference. A meeting would be held in secret location, which changed every day and they would discuss any business which could harm their little world. With a sigh, Fred turned to Lizzie one last time and smiled, disappearing in a flash of green light.

"OK. I call this IF's meeting to order, with G.T.H Herman in the chair and Namby Pamby taking minutes" Herman announced, shuffling papers in an orderly fashion.

The meeting had been called back at head quarters, which was strange for the union. It usually meant something serious had happened, was happening or was about to happen. The HQ was inside a tree house, a tree house too high for any child to climb and too dangerous for any parent to let them. It was set against a large oak tree, right in the middle of a small forest, where nobody was clever enough to look. The size of their HQ however was deceiving to anybody lucky enough to be passing by, as once you entered the small front door, you would enter a palace. A palace that was beyond anybodies wildest dreams. The room itself was almost like a painting, with no real furniture and very little sense in decor. They had all agreed on avoiding as much furniture as possible, due to the tendency for it to be completely smashed to pieces. The group were crowded around a small table with chairs of all shapes and sizes dotted around the circular surface.

"I think we all know why we've been summoned here" Herman continued, glancing at Fred before pulling a large book from under his desk. The book slammed on the table with an almighty thud, dust flew as he turned through the old torn pages to the correct one and cleared his throat. "VETUS BOMBULUM" he bellowed, staring at the faces of his confused IFs who simply shrugged.

"Old fart disease" Herman corrected himself. "I was just trying to sound smart, it was Latin" He sighed. A chorus of whispers broke out across the group as Fred remained silent, confused at the sudden distinct reaction from the group.

"What's that?" he grimaced, smirking at the cowering IFs in their seats.

"that is what you're going to die of" Herman spoke quickly and clearly, regarding Fred with concern. "It's a disease IF's die of when they're exposed to the troubles of the real world. Namely, love." he finished, pushing the book towards Fred, who had now a large amount of free space around him as If's moved from around him.

"Love?" he asked softly, regarding the book. IF's books never had any words in them, only pictures, but as Fred stared at the image of an IF Keeling over and curling into a ball, he found it much less endearing.

"Fred, this is important. You know what happened to the other guys? Now normally, IF's die because the children they are caring for, die themselves. But we've never had one fall in love." Herman explained carefully, dropping his head in remembrance for his fallen IFs.

"what's going to happen?" Fred asked, flicking through the book to find any hint of a cure.

"Well, if we do nothing about it. You will grow older, the fun and life will be drained out of you, until there is simply nothing left... and you will disappear... forever" Herman sighed, watching at the other IFs recoiled further in terror. "BUT! we may be able to do something about it" Herman smiled, jumping up from his seat and skipping over to Fred's chair to place a comforting hand on his shoulder."But it may be out of your comfort zone" he finished.

"what exactly would that be?" Fred asked, suddenly feeling very nervous at Herman's reply.

"you're going to have to make her fall in love with you all over again. and, become part of her world" Herman finished, clapping his hands together like he had just saved the entire crisis. Fred had barely noticed the audible typing of Nampy Pamby's minute taking in the corner, but as the whole room hushed, he became aware of every murmur and heartbeat around him, that certainly sounded easier that it was.

"And how do I do that?!" Fred asked, his tone impatient and confused.

"Look! for heaven's sake! you're an IMAGINARY friend, you exist only in her imagination. Therefore you need to create a memory that she would never forget, a bond with her that can never be broken and more than that, you need break the wall between her imagination and reality. Leave a lasting effect on her body and you will be real. The brain is a powerful tool, my friend, use it wisely." Herman finished his speech with a prod of Fred's shoulder, pushing the book to his eyes once more to show him the image of an IF, escaping through the portal of a Childs mind into reality.

"and... that's possible?" Fred asked, imagining the look on Lizzies face if other people could see him. He had never ever heard of an IF becoming a real person, he was sure it was the stuff of myths and legends in his world. But then again, he had never heard of his disease, and the way his hair was losing colour and his lack of energy told him that, this was as real as it got.

"Yeah! well... sure! It's never _actually_ happened before, but it's in the book. Most children don't need their IF to be real, but in some cases, their life is too lonely, they need a real friend and anyway, what's the worst that could happen?" Herman smiled, propping his chin in his hands and winking at Fred.

"He could die" Namby pamby's squeaky voice spoke up, causing a rift of giggles from the group and a stern look from Fred.

"how am I supposed to make a lasting memory on her? what am I supposed to do?" Fred asked, slamming his fists on the leather bound book in front of him.

"I'm sure you'll work it out" and with a wink from Herman and a puff of white smoke, they were gone. Leaving Fred sat right back in the warm, dark bedroom of Elizabeth Cronin. His new mission lay before him sleeping in a peaceful and happy daze.


End file.
